Popular tree planting program off to a sluggish start in Winnipeg

Packages for trees can be found on Trees Winnipeg's online store and will be available to pick up on June 4. (Source: Trees Winnipeg)

A popular tree planting program has helped Winnipeg move a step closer to its canopy goal over the last five years, but now there is a concern over sluggish sales.

ReLeaf offers trees to homeowners at a subsidized rate to property owners in and around Winnipeg.

Matt Vinet, who is with Trees Winnipeg, said demand quadrupled since it first start five years ago but he is dumbfounded by what is happening in 2022.

"Usually within a week we sell out and this week we've only sold half of them," said Vinet.

When they first started, Vinet said they were selling 500 trees a year and by 2020, they were selling 1,000 trees two times a year.

Vinet said he knows Winnipeggers care about trees and feels people just don't have the information compared to previous years.

So far, only half of around 1,200 trees have been sold.

"Of all places in Canada and North America I don't think there is a city I have ever been to where the citizens are more interested in their trees than in Winnipeg."

Packages for trees can be found on Trees Winnipeg's online store and will be available to pick up on June 4.